I love to listen to people talk, to hear their use and misuse of language. A few nights ago on the local news, a woman was talking about “all the neglection” her father was receiving at the nursing home. The phrase stuck with me. The idea of receiving neglection…

2020 has been challenging for everyone. And though sometimes the days can seem grim, each day and in every situation, we have a choice. We can choose to focus on the negative, or we can squeeze all the joy we can out of…

When you were growing up, there’s a good chance that your parents told you, “You could be whatever you want when you grow up.” It’s something that most of us hear at some point in our lives. That’s all well and good when you’re a child…

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday of the entire year. I try to live a life filled with gratitude, and it’s special to have a day set aside for giving thanks – even though I practice it every day. This year, my estranged daughter will once again…

Just as surely as the earth turns, the times change. The first blush of love turns into the apathy and pain of divorce. The miracle of birth turns into the challenge of adult children struggling in life. The career highs turn into the search for purpose…

With nearly a year under my belt of being a divorced 65-year-old, mother of four grown children, I have had time for reflection. The divorce was my choice. I sought and embraced it after years of apathy, contempt and hostility. I couldn’t change…

When I think of detachment, I think of a husband unlovingly detached from his wife, or a depressed mother who is detached and uninvolved with her child. In these contexts, detachment occurs in unhealthy relationships. Indeed, the ‘problem’…

Do you ever feel like the Universe or other people are out to get you? Interestingly, the greatest enemy you’ll ever face is staring back at you in the mirror. It knows all your tricks and how to push your buttons. Maybe you sabotage yourself in ways…

As I look back on my 65 years, to say that my life did not turn out the way I expected would be an understatement. I wonder how many of us would be honest enough to say the same. I approached both marriage and motherhood with incredible idealism…

Another Mother’s Day has come and gone. It was filled with both blessings and pain. Mothering is like that. Not too long ago, one of my children was estranged from me. It was not how I envisioned a relationship with an adult child. Even the word “estranged”…